The Major Threats to Cybersecurity Aren’t Just Hackers

A lot of the times when it comes to cybersecurity, businesses are under the assumption that the main danger they will face are the hackers. While hackers are an undeniable force, they aren’t the only cyber related risk that businesses face.

In fact, cybersecurity companies such as CYFIRMA specialize in this area and have noted that an organization can face multiple risks. With their expertise on-board, your organization can identify the areas that need more attention as you stitch away the vulnerabilities and strengthen your security profile.

If you’re curious about the risks that your business is facing, the following lists the common causal agents behind most cybersecurity attacks and data breaches. Also, these aren’t hinged on hackers:

Employee Errors

A large number of data breaches are actually caused due to employee errors and negligence. This is common not only in small businesses but also in larger undertakings. There’s a general disregard for security rules in businesses where safety and security measures are not emphasized. Furthermore, some employees are largely focused on getting their work done as quickly as possible and might adopt measures which bypass the security, in order to get their work done.

In the past, there have been instances where simple employee error was responsible for placing sensitive data in danger. In 2017, the Red Cross Association in Australia suffered a data breach when they realized that a file containing information about patients and candidates for blood donation was saved in a publicly accessible section of their website. The issue was corrected as soon as it was detected but, there’s no knowing how much data was already manipulated or compromised.

Employee Maliciousness

Sometimes, data breaches are caused by employees not because of mistakes but because of malicious intent. The good news here is that this doesn’t occur as frequently as employee mistakes. The bad news though, is that when it does happen, it can be a major cause for concern. There have been tales where businesses have been locked out of their own software because of this development.

Additionally, this is a rare occurrence because employees need to have access to restricted areas and only a select few have access to it. Businesses can also make this a minor risk by ensuring that they have a proper handover strategy when employees exit the organization and also ensure that the employee and the business part ways in a mutually respectful manner.

Poor Security Measures

More than employee error, poor security measures are a huge risk and one that hackers actively manipulate to steal data. In this area, you will find that there are numerous businesses that don’t update their security measures as much as they should. This ends up leaving them vulnerable and exposed to malware attacks that are quite advanced, ergo, quite damaging to the businesses’ assets and reputation.

This issue isn’t just a problem for small businesses but for large organizations as well. This is also a major reason why businesses in the finance, health and education sectors get targeted so much. Not only do they have a lot of sensitive data, but they also have very poor security measures that have not been updated in years.

By paying attention to the aforementioned risks, you can enhance your organization’s cybersecurity posture and shield from the associated risks.